Google Earth and GPS

timdastis · 09-07-2005, 10:17 PM

hey i dont know if any1 has checked out google earth yet but its really sweet and detailed...now i suck at programming and stuff but do u guys think its possible to use their imaging and stuff to turn this into a gps system?

PURDooM · 09-07-2005, 10:23 PM

Ive been spending the last 4 hours playing with google earth as well, but didnt make a new thread because I found older ones out there.

Coincidences are weird man!

AWDNUT · 09-07-2005, 11:45 PM

Yeah I swore like a month ago I was going to signup for the earth plus membership ($20 a year) and start using the GPS features.. The problem is that the GPS features are pretty slim, it does not appear to be well developed for that sort of thing *yet*.. It is still a Beta..?

xBrady · 09-08-2005, 12:30 AM

Plus you have to be connected to the internet.

timdastis · 09-08-2005, 11:38 AM

yea the connection part sucks...what im wondering is if any of these masterminds on these forums can somehow mod the google earth software to turn it into an offline, free gps software that works well

PURDooM · 09-08-2005, 12:23 PM

Some of google earths best strengths IMO are the fact that it is on the internet. There is alot of webcam views and notes left by people on the keyhole forums that appear on the map. Heck there is a webcam not less than a mile from my house that appears on google earth.

Google maps, now that could be usefull offline (sat view). But thats a pain in the arse to do and google frowns on that.

Perhaps we should all stop being lazy and figure out how to get internet in the car with those tmobile and sprint hacks

s003apr · 09-08-2005, 04:26 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by timdastis

yea the connection part sucks...what im wondering is if any of these masterminds on these forums can somehow mod the google earth software to turn it into an offline, free gps software that works well

That would take some serious hard drive space.

AWDNUT · 09-08-2005, 11:17 PM

So each postal code is a DVD and you got alot of DVDs?

fventura03 · 09-11-2005, 10:01 AM

was it my connection (15mbps fiber optic) or does that program take a huge amount of time to load the different areas...?

Tommy Maness · 09-11-2005, 10:08 AM

I drive a eighteen wheeler and I've got into some streets that I wasn't supposed to be on using you maps. where do I get the truck maps?

gnomad · 09-11-2005, 11:00 AM

Now that Verizon has dropped the price of their mobile-broadband network to $59/mo, I'm *very* tempted to pop for this for in-car networking. That, combined with Google Earth + GPS subscription would seriously rock.

BTW, y'all do know this is the reason why Google wants to do a global rollout of WiMax, right? It's not to provide free networking, per-se, but to provide the ability to deliver Google Maps in your car. Think about it. Right now, Google delivers targeted ads based on what you search for. With an in-car GPS telling google where you are physically, Google can display pop-up advertising (think virtual billboards) for every store or business that you drive by. Of course, the personal privacy issues are nothing short of a nightmare...

In the meantime, you can purchase the entire Google Earth database and software installed in a rack mount enclosure. I think it's a few grand for the base system that allows "only" a few hundred connections. Not practical for most installations, but I'm sure someone might try it.

Personally, I've been very tempted to access the basic google maps through a t-mobile internet connection (only $20/mo for unlimited access) to provide a navigation system under Linux, but I haven't been able to connect to *any* of the Google services through my t-mobile connection since I first thought of this a few weeks ago. Gotta see what's up with that...

-p.